Today I want to express my appreciation to Michel Camdessus, who
announced his intention to resign as Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund, for his years of service. Mr. Camdessus
exhibited strong leadership during his two-plus terms at the IMF. His
tireless efforts helped contain the fallout from the East Asian economic
crisis in 1997 and 1998, improve the global financial architecture,
increase the transparency of the IMF itself, establish "good practices"
for transparency of national governments, and create greater focus on
debt relief for the world's poorest countries. I will greatly miss
working with Mr. Camdessus in the international economic policy arena
and wish him the best in his retirement.